A/N: Ok,I know I didn't finish the reapings by the deadline, but after a long two or so weeks, I finally came to admitting I had a "bad case of writing block".
On the weekend, once I got a break from school and sports, I finally got back to my old self again. I finished this a night earlier, except I decided to hold off the uploading until tomorrow because I was so tired.
Back to business: Two more reapings shouldn't take too long right? Since I got my writer's block I've had a lot of thinking about the next two chapters, I just couldn't form them into words. They should go faster than ten took me, but we'll never know.
Disclaimer- Don't own the Hunger Games yet. Yet... Anyone know where Suzanne Collins lives?...
Enjoy!
~District Ten Reapings~
Barley Dawson's P.O.V.
A chill goes up my spine and I shiver and twitch.
I'm fully awake but I lie still in bed under the warm covers.
Sweat dribbles off my face and onto the pillow.
Last night was like any other. I walk past rows of hung men and women. Some look identical to my Aunt, uncle, and even my best friend's dad.
But when I see my father in the row, I instantly know it's him.
The way his brown curls match mine perfectly. Along with the small stubs of hair along his chin that he forgets to shave off in the early morning. His green eyes like tall grass the cows take care of in spring. The smell of ripened cherries fills my nose and I start to breathe more heavily.
The sweet scent is covered over by the smell of death and decay which make me gag and fall to my knees.
I've had this dream before. Millions of times by now.
It was never my fault, but I always feel the urge to say something.
But to whom, I've never figured out.
They're all dead. Whether its murder or suicide, all I have left is Lee, Rose and little Whitney.
I pull myself out of bed and rub my eyes sleepily.
From a distance, I can hear the chickens getting their breakfast.
If the four of us are lucky enough, then we can sell the eggs to the black market.
Sometimes our hopes all fail and we can't even afford to feed the chickens. It's then when we have a rough time living in the house.
My feet are completely numb. It's hard to walk on them but I manage.
When I pass Whitney's room I see she's still asleep. She's lucky to not have the same dreams as me.
By the time she was born no one was around for her except Lee, Rose and I. She never knew our mother or father.
Not even our aunt or uncle.
When I enter the kitchen, Rose is cracking eggs into a pan. "Morning." She says simply.
I take a stool near the counter and watch the egg whites start to turn into a bronze color. I only get a quick look before she flips them over again.
"Do you want scrambled?" She says about to reach for another egg.
"Not very hungry." I reply almost weakly. Rose nods and flips the egg whites onto its yolk. "Do you know where I could find Lee?"
Rose clears her throat. "She went out to do chores. I think she said something about going to the black market later on. If you hurry you could-"
I start running towards the back door before she can finish.
There are a couple things I Need from the market. And I know this will be my on chance to get it.
The fresh are rushes up to my nose making me feel so much better and less nauseated.
As Rose said, Lee sits on my mother's old stone bench and feeds small crumbs to the chickens. When she hears the backdoor slam, she looks at me curious.
"I need to go to the black market withyou." I say quickly almost out of breath.
"Barley. We had a deal. You stay here and help Whitney get ready while doing the rest of your chores while I go trade the eggs."
I bite my lip and get the metallic taste in my mouth. How bad was the dream last night?
"I just need a couple things. It won't take long." I say rubbing my arms while the cold reaches out and grabs me.
Lee nods and sprinkles the rest of the grain and seeds onto the ground.
~District Ten Reapings~
Devon Vanazuales' P.O.V.
"I wouldn't wear that if I were you." Blitz says shaking his head at my reflection in the mirror.
What harm could a little red do? I turn my head him in question.
"Remember five years ago when Mr. Pensky accidentally let out all the sterns go on a rampage through the reapings?"
The last time I saw my neighbor…
Mandy walks into the room with a large stack of dresses in her small hand.
"I like the blue but it's to light. What about pink? No, I don't like the weird snake skin ribbon along the waistline though." She says stiffly and quickly while placing elegant dresses belonging to our mother on the bed.
Blitz raises an eyebrow at me. Sad enough, Mandy sees it.
She turns to him poised on her toes, stretching up as far as she can go; the simple fact reminds me that she knows where mom's high heeled shoes are. "Have you noticed all of the Philippine Taipans slithering around our house lately? Our mom's not even letting me outside anymore, only for the exceptional school-time."
Philippine Taipans are the newly, most deadly creatures the Capitol's made yet. They're quite similar to the tracker jackers and they're poisonous venom.
Just a few years ago they sent them into the 79th games, just so they could add an extra obstacle for the tribunes.
They barely left a winner out of the lot. And only two careers were able to kill anyone.
After the incident, the capitol shipped them off to us, thinking we could train them to be less vicious then how they made them.
Epic fail.
Half our people of the district are gone now. We even had to elect a new mayor.
Blitz dad was the first to find out that they had a special gland inside their skin to help burns. The only problem is getting to it.
Mandy opens her mouth to speak again, but before she can start her motor-mouth up again, Blitz beats her to it.
"We better get going to the reapingssoon. You know. So that we don't get mixed with the back of the crowd."
Mandy's eyes bug out. "But you never said what dress!"
"Just pick a dress and grab a pair of mom's old shoes, squirt." I say looking at the clock while thinking.
Blitz stands up and walks out the door, most likely I'll see him again downstairs but I still wave my hand slightly.
After gathering all numerous dresses, Mandy heads towards the doorway.
"Hey." Mandy turns to me. I smile and point to the dress at the front of the stack. "The blue. Defiantly."
~District Ten Reapings~
Barley Dawson's P.O.V.
The black market feels warm as usual.
I'm not sure if it's because of the heat forming between the bodies running against each other in the large crowd, or the fact that the entire left side of the market is filled with incubators for the newly hatched chicks.
Each chirp sounds like a mile-long scream of pain.
I'd hate to be born on reaping day too.
Mrs. Arielle stands by the counter with Bluebell by her side. I don't think anyone sees her without one of her cows.
When we pass her, her whisper faintly reaches my ear. "The apples from District 11 have just been shipped out dear."
The advice she gives me has come in handy now. She's been coming and going to the market since she was a little one.
Every animal, chirping or barking, seems to become louder. It starts to get overwhelming to my head and my steps become more unsteady.
"So what'd you need to grab?" Lee repeats it twice but I can't quite hear her either times.
"What. Did. You. Need. To. Grab?" She says once more, this time louder.
My eye meets the fruit across the room. "Something for Whitney. She's been feeling a little down lately."
Before the conversation goes on any longer I run for the last apple which finally seems to be left alone.
Anyone would get their hands on fresh fruit here. We never see much of it unless it's reaping day.
A boy steps in front of me before I can grab it. With an outstanding height and a nice muscular build, I know instantly I don't stand a chance.
With a sneer, he grabs the last apple and walks away.
I look back at Lee whom shrugs and walks towards the counter for a bargain.
Nothing remains on the fruit stands except for a few oranges, but I know Whitney's had a bad appetite for them since she was little.
Before I start walking to Lee, a small yellow-red, circular figure catches my attention.
It rolls on the ground, occasionally getting kicked by moving district people.
With my arm outstretched, I reach for the apple only about two feet away from me.
The instep of someonesfoot moves it about four inches farther and a person practically pushes me to the ground with their rushing bodies.
I still try to reach the apple though which resigns close to table with all the incubators.
Crawling quickly on my hands and knees, I reach the table with only a couple people tripping over me or stepping on me.
I grab the apple, now bruised and gushing out some juice, and examine it carefully. Knowing that I may have made Whitney feel a lot better than she should.
When I try to stand, I hit my head on the table above me. With the newly ache I make my way up with some help from Lee, now at my side.
She looks at me laughing and shaking her head. "Barley…"
XxXxXxXxXx
"…Dawson!" Janie Dilees says overly happy.
My eyes flood with a pain I've had before. Like they've been soaked in vinegar.
No tears fall across my face but there is a small sigh of sadness that I let out.
I look back at Whitney who has her hand tightly clenched to Lee's in the back.
I move fast and quick to the stage.
I want it all to be over.
I want the ribbons and lights around the town square to just disappear. To vanish into nowhere.
I want nothing but to not be here in this small chair on the stage.
I feel the pain my father felt that day I hate so much.
~District Ten Reapings~
Devon Vanazuales' P.O.V.
Mandy twirls in her blue dress. The one I told her to wear earlier.
Mother has convinced her to wear her old ballet flats for the reapings because of the tricky cobblestones she can trip over.
But you can see the skinny heel poking out her backpack that dad has agreed to carry for her.
"Daddy? Can we please, please, please, go to the new little shop down the street after the reapings?" Mandy says with her puppy dog eyes.
"Well the honor's are in Demon's." Mother says saying my nickname. "He is, after all participating in the reapings."
I nod for Mandy because I know how much she's wanted to go there, and because I know how long she'll bug me about it if I say no.
When we get to the town square few minutes later, I walk off to the same section I see Blitz is in.
My hands meet my pockets because the cold seems to be nipping away the heat it gives off.
Blitz luckily has his gloves on. I have to punch him in the arm playfully once he starts to show them off even though they're at the most, seven years old already.
Ms. Stestrom walks onto the stage in her gray skirt and small business jacket. She's the oldest mayor we've had, even though she's in her mid-forties.
Rumors about the old witch say that she'll be retiring soon.
She tells us about the Dark Days which I seem to take in for once in my life and then moves on into introducing Janie.
The difference there is, is remarkable. From old to stunning old to stunning young. From stale to fresh.
Janie's a new escort and is only two years older than me-I think.
"Hello fellow districtors!"
Her English could use some polishing though.
"I'm so happy to be your escort this year!" I swipe my feet back and forth across the stones cemented into the ground. "And you're female tribute is- Barely Dawson!"
I see a town's girl walk up the stage in a blur. Like she's itching to get somewhere.
The escort shakes the girl's hand then continues on with her mischievous work. "And now for the boys."
As I always do, while the chaperone takes a small slip of paper from the bowl. I do a quick surround check, wondering who this unlucky guy will be.
"Devon Vanezualas?"
Things switch around. All eyes come intact with my topaz colored ones.
I'm going in the games.
A/N: So if you're reading this author note at the bottom, I'm guessing you've just finished reading D10's Reapings. Any feedback?
For anyone who hasn't bothered to look back at chapter one, there is a News thing uploaded onto it. So if I'm running late on an update, or you just have a question. You probably will find some answers there.
Scenarios, scenarios, scenarios. K guys, now is the chance to submit one. Please don't submit anything events that may happen in the games. After all, you don't know the bloodbath results yet.
Simple events before the games would be nice. For example: If you want an alliance to form in training, then I might need more information. No story formats, just a simple sentences. Got it?
Ok- I'm counting on you guys to do your part. Good luck!
And remember- Happy Hunger Games and May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!
-Fifi